The List
by ilovesoccer13
Summary: Neji is kicked out of the Hyuuga Manor and must live with Tenten for a week. When he finds a list in her room, Neji tries to complete all of the tasks in an effort to make her like him. However, some of his attempts don't exactly go as planned. Neji/Ten
1. Finding the List

Neji collapsed on his bed after a long day of training, grabbing the remote and turning on the television.

"Neji?" came the voice of Hinata's father, Hiashi, from down the hall. "Have you done everything I've asked you to do?" The man entered the room and gave Neji an accusing look.

Neji stared back at him blankly. "Hn. What did you want me to do, again?"

Hiashi sighed. "Neji! Today it was your duty to clean the kitchen and mop all of the hardwood floors in the mansion! Did you forget again?"

Neji looked back towards the television like he was bored with the conversation. "No. I've been out training all day, so I didn't have time."

"Look, Neji, I know you like to train, and that's fine. But you KNOW that it's important for you to get home early on days like this! If you're not going to do your chores when they're assigned, how do you expect the other Hyuugas to?"

"Why don't the maids just do it? It's they're JOB. My JOB is to be a ninja, which is what I'm trying to do." A temporary surge of defiance flowed through him, and he looked up at Hiashi with a smirk. "What if I say I'm not going to do them?"

Hiashi crossed his arms. "Then I say pack your bags."

"What!" Neji cried, hopping up quickly. "You're going to kick me out?"

"No, of course not. I wouldn't do that. I just think you need to learn some responsibility for once. You know what, yes, I think that would be best. Neji, I'm ordering you to leave the mansion for one week and find a friend to live with during that time. Perhaps one of your teammates would be willing to offer you a home..."

"But...you can't just kick me out," Neji argued.

"I can, and I am. Oh, look!" Hiashi pointed to a green blur moving towards the mansion outside of Neji's window. With a loud smack, Rock Lee slammed into the window and blinked at them. Neji sighed and opened it.

"What do you want, Lee? This is a very bad time."

"Hello, dear friend!" Rock Lee called cheerfully.

"Actually, I think this is a perfect time for you to arrive. We were just discussing how Neji was going to go live with a friend for a week. Maybe Rock Lee can help you, Neji."

Neji looked from a grinning Rock Lee to a smirking Hiashi. He blinked. "I'm going to go find Tenten."

Tenten was headed from her house to her favorite clothing store, planning on a whole hour of shopping, when with a flash, Neji Hyuuga appeared in front of her. She stopped in surprise. "Neji? We already trained today, what are you doing here?"

Neji looked at her blankly. "I...hn...I have a favor to ask."

Tenten raised her eyebrows. "What kind of favor?"

Neji sighed and looked down at his feet, at the last second remembering his pride and raising his eyes to meet hers. "Could I perhaps...stay with you for a week?"

Tenten blinked at him. "You...stay with me...for a week?"

Neji nodded.

They looked at each other.

"You're kidding, right?"

"I am afraid I am not."

Tenten scratched her head. "Well...why? What's wrong with your mansion?"

Neji sighed. "I've been kicked out for a week...apparently this is supposed to teach me how to be responsible."

"You seem responsible enough to me already."

"I didn't do my chores."

Tenten snickered. "Neji Hyuuga didn't do his chores?"

"They wanted me to clean the mansion," Neji said stiffly. "I don't clean."

Tenten crossed her arms. "Well, I suppose I could ask my parents. But you'll have to come with me. Darn, that means my shopping trip is canceled for this afternoon!" Neji stared at her. "You don't care, do you?" Tenten asked. He shook his head. Tenten sighed and led him all the way back to her house, ushering him in quickly. A man and a woman that Neji assumed were Tenten's parents sat on the couch in the living room, watching television.

"Back already, Tenten?" her father called over without looking at them. "What happened to shopping?"

"Well, I ran into a friend on the way there."

Both parents turned around. "Oh, you ran into one of your little girlfriends? That's great! What's your name, sweetie?"

Tenten blushed as Neji struggled not to kill them then and there. "...Neji," Neji finally forced out.

"Oh, what a pretty name!" Tenten's father said. "Well, is your little friend spending the night tonight, Tenten?"

"Uh...wait one second, father!" Tenten called, seeing Neji's face get even more redder. She pulled him into another room quickly. "Um...look, I know you don't exactly want my parents thinking you're a girl...but they would be more likely to let you stay here for a week if we let them think that. And I'm guessing after me all that's left is Rock Lee, so...do you think you can handle it?"

"Hn."

Tenten glared at him. "Don't give me that, Neji. I know my parents can be really stupid sometimes, okay? I think you're very manly, if that makes you feel any better," Tenten said playfully, patting his arm. Neji glared down at her.

"Fine. But I don't want to talk to them any more than what's required. Got it?"

"No problem. You can go into my room and I'll try and convince them to let you stay, okay?"

Neji nodded and stalked off. Tenten returned to the living room. "Okay, Neji and I talked about it, and if it's okay with you guys it would be great if h-she could stay for a week."

"A week?" Tenten's mom asked. "I don't know, that seems like a really long time..."

"Pleeeeease! She doesn't have anywhere else to go, other than Rock Lee's house!"

Tenten had told both of her parents about Rock Lee before, and they both shuddered at the mere mention of his name. "...very well. She can stay," her father said. "But only for a week!"

Tenten nodded swiftly. "Of course, only a week! Thanks!"

Neji entered Tenten's room and looked around, placing his bag with all of his needed belongings in it on the ground. His eyes immediately flew to her dresser, and he couldn't help blushing. Neji quickly fought off the blush and stood up straight. Hyuugas were NOT perverts, and he was NOT going to look in THERE. Today. After further study of the room, he settled on Tenten's desk, which was covered in random papers. He sifted through them curiously, finally coming upon one that looked remotely interesting.

_25 Things A Sweet Guy Would Do:_

_1. Know how to make you smile when you are down.  
2. Try to secretly smell your hair.  
3. Stick up for you but still be respectful of your independence.  
4. Give you the remote control during the game.  
5. Come up behind you, put his arms around you, squeeze you tightly against his chest, and whisper softly into your ear.  
6. Play with your hair.  
7. His hands will always find yours.  
8. Be cute when he really wants something.  
9. Offer you plenty of massages.  
10. Dance with you even if he feels like a dork.  
11. Never run out of love.  
12. Be funny, but knows when to be serious.  
13. Realize he's being funny when he needs to be serious.  
14. Be patient when you take forever to get ready.  
15. React so cutely when you hit him and it actually hurts.  
16. Smile alot.  
17. Plan a romantic date full of cheesy things he wouldn't normally  
do just b/c he knows it means alot to you.  
18. Appreciate you.  
19. Help others out.  
20. Drive 5 hours just to see you for 1.  
21. Always give you a peck on the cheek when you depart from each other's company- even when friends are watching.  
22. Sing even if he can't.  
23. Have a creative sense of humor.  
24. Stare at you.  
25. Call for no reason. _

Neji raised his eyebrows. Why would Tenten, of all people, have something trivial like this located anywhere in her room? This was something he would expect from Sakura or Ino. Neji frowned. He hadn't realized that Tenten might be interested in guys as well...

He scanned the list. "Smile alot? Never run out of love? Play with your hair? More like 25 things a queer guy would do..." Neji chuckled at his own joke. "I can't believe Tenten would want a guy that would do all this stu..."

"I'm back!" Tenten called, rushing into the room. Neji hurried to hide the list, shoving it into his pocket before he had a chance to think about it. Tenten didn't seem to notice. "My parents said that you could stay for a week!"

Neji nodded at her. "Good. Where should I sleep?"

Tenten frowned. "You're welcome..." she said sarcastically. "Probably in here would be fine, we used to get company a lot so I've always had two single beds in my room just in case. You can sleep on the other one."

Neji took another look around. "Where's the television?"

Tenten blinked. "Out in the living room..."

"No. Where's the one in here?" Neji questioned.

"We don't have one in here."

Neji glared at her. "You don't have a television in your bedroom?"

Tenten slowly shook her head no. Neji sighed. "Well, I do. Where's your second television set, then?"

"We only have one, Neji," Tenten replied, rolling her eyes.

Neji's eyes bugged out of his head. "One TV? That's it?" He groaned. "This is going to be one long week..."

Tenten looked at him angrily and was about to say something, when suddenly her mom burst into the room. "Hey girls! I just realized how grown up you are now, Tenten! You haven't had a sleepover in forever! But don't worry!" She handed Tenten a piece of paper. "Here's a list of things girls like to talk about during sleepovers, okay?" She hurried out of the room.

Tenten looked down at the paper.

_Boys  
Your period_

She crumpled it up and threw it onto her desk without reading any farther.

"What did it say?" Neji asked.

"You don't want to know..." Tenten replied.

Neji stared at the paper on the desk, and remembered the other list he had been reading. "Where did I put it..." he thought. "Oh..." He poked one of his pockets and felt it inside.

"Well, what do you want to do?" Tenten asked him. "You're going to be here for a week, so we have to think of something fun to pass the time."

"What do you usually do for fun?" Neji asked.

"Hmm...well, normally I write in my diary or go shopping or something, when I'm not training with you..." Tenten's cheeks went slightly pink.

"Diary. Hn."

Tenten didn't reply.

"Well...somehow I don't think either of those things will work for me. What are all those papers on your desk, though?"

"Oh...well, mostly just junk that I take a look at once and then kind of forget about. We could go through it for fun, if you want. That might take a while."

Neji shrugged. "Why not? There's no TV in here."

Tenten pretended not to hear the last part of his sentence. "Alright, let's dig in."


	2. Neji's Decision

"Look at this..." Neji said, showing Tenten a hand-drawn picture of a boy in green being chased by hundreds of squirrels.

Tenten giggled. "Oh yeah, I remember that! Did I mention I like to draw?" Neji stuck a hand back down into the pile and pulled out a random drawing as Tenten looked over his shoulder. She spotted a girl and a boy and instantly jerked the paper away from Neji before he could get a good look at it, realizing what it was.

"Why did you do that?" Neji asked passively. Tenten blushed.

"Uh...I'm tired of looking through all this. We've been at it for over an hour. Do you want to do something else?"

Neji shrugged. "Sure. Why don't we go outside?" He looked out the window to see that it was pitch black out.

"Um...are you sure? It's kind of dark, maybe we should just go to bed..." Tenten started to say.

"I'm not tired. We can play a game outside."

Tenten gaped at him. Neji Hyuuga didn't play games. "You want to play...a game?" she asked.

"Why not? I'm usually not allowed to go outside at night."

"Oh. Well, what do you want to do?" Tenten asked, leading him towards the front door. The living room was empty; apparently her parents had gone to bed.

"What would you normally do?" Neji asked once they were outside.

"I don't know. Like my mom said, I haven't had a sleepover in a long time." She grinned almost evilly. "But when I was younger, my friends and I used to play a game called Ding Dong Ditch."

"Ding Dong Ditch?" Neji repeated. "How do you play that?"

"Well, first you have to go ring someone's doorbell, that's the Ding Dong part!" Tenten told him. Neji nodded and immediately headed for the neighbor's house.

"Neji...what are you doing?" Tenten asked.

"Playing the game," Neji replied, reaching the front door. Tenten's eyes widened.

"Oh, no, Neji, you don't...!"

Neji slowly pressed a finger against the doorbell, and a loud ringing sound could be heard from inside. Tenten clapped a hand to her forehead.

The front door was wrenched open and an angry man stood glaring at Neji.

"Hello," Neji said lightly. "I am playing a game called Ding Dong Ditch. My name is Neji. That's Tenten over there." He pointed to Tenten, who was still standing in her front yard. Tenten shrank back in fright. Neji turned back to the man. "What's your name?"

"Asshole." The man slammed the door in his face.

Neji blinked. After a moment, he walked back over to Tenten. "I don't like this game."

Tenten sighed. "You're supposed to run away before they can answer the door."

Neji frowned and looked back at the neighbor's house. "That sounds mean."

"It is. But just try it, it's fun!"

"I don't know, Tenten..."

Tenten smirked. "Watch me!"

She ran over to the other neighbor's house, rang the doorbell, and then took off back towards Neji with a grin on her face. "Tenten, what're you..." Neji was cut off as Tenten ran smack into him, tackling him to the ground with a giggle. "Just look!"

They both laid still, staring over at the door. After a moment it opened, and an old lady stepped out, holding a cane and looking around, confused. "Darn kids..." she finally called out, turning around and going back inside.

Neji and Tenten sat up as soon as she was gone. Neji didn't really see the humor in it, but as he watched Tenten burst into laughter he couldn't help but smile. "I haven't done this in three years!" Tenten cried. "I forgot how fun it was!"

Neji watched her calmly. "_I like your laugh..." _he thought.

"Huh?" Tenten asked.

The smile was wiped from Neji's face. Had he said that out loud? "What?"

Tenten frowned at him. "Did you just say something?"

"Uh...I said I need a bath," he lied.

Tenten gave him a strange look. "Okay...well, do you want to go take one?"

"Sure," Neji replied, quickly heading for her house without another word. Tenten followed him in confusion. When they got inside she showed him to the bathroom, and after he made sure he had a towel for afterwards, Neji started his bubble bath. Yes, Neji Hyuuga liked bubble baths. And if anyone ever found out, he would vow to kill them in their sleep.

After Neji went into the bathroom, Tenten headed to her room, opening her top drawer and sifting through her...ahem...garments...and pulling out her diary. She smirked to herself. It was hidden in the one place nobody ever thought to look. And now that she was alone, she was free to write in it.

_Dear Diary, _

_Today has been strange, to say the least. Neji Hyuuga told me he needed to stay for the week. Apparently he was kicked out of the Hyuuga Manor and needs a place to stay. Naturally, one of his teammates would be the best choice...I suppose. At least I know he likes me better than Rock Lee...which isn't really saying much. Then again, he could have stayed with Gai-sensei. _

Tenten paused for a moment. What else could she right about? She smiled, remembering what had happened when Neji had first arrived.

_Oh yeah, and my parents think he's a girl! It was pretty funny to see his reaction. I think he might kill them. I should keep an eye out for that. Right now he's taking a bath. I wonder what would happen if I were to "accidentally" walk in on him? Hmph. Like I would try that. Still...I've never seen him without a shirt on before. You'd think he'd take it off at least once during training from all the heat, but nooooo. Hopefully the rest would still be underwater...hehe. Perverted thoughts stop HERE. Okay. Well, I wonder when I should tell him I like him. And I wonder what his reaction would be. I'm thinking he'd either laugh or just stare at me, then say something in monotone and leave. There's absolutely no way he likes me back. That's what I get for liking a guy with almost no emotions..._

"Hey, Tenten, I need my bag with my clothes in it," Neji said coming in with a towel wrapped around his waist. Tenten quickly hid her diary behind her back, looking up at him slowly. A blush crawled onto her cheeks. "Neji! Uh..."

_"Wipe the drool off your face and give him the bag_!" A voice in the back of her head exclaimed. Tenten snapped out of her trance and bent over, leaning down and picking up the bag, then standing up and tossing it to him with one hand. Neji caught it, nodded at her and left. She pulled her diary out from behind her and wrote in it frantically.

_Oh my Gawd oh my Gawd oh my Gawd oh my Gawd oh my Gawd! Not to sound like a crazed fan girl or anything, but I JUST SAW NEJI SHIRTLESS! He's...so...HOT! Okay, okay...calming down. I can't believe he just came in like that! He probably saw me writing in this, or you, or whatever. I hope not. Anyway, he'll be back any minute, so I gotta hide whatever I should refer to this diary as. Bye I guess. Not that you're even going to read any of this...cause you're a diary. Whatever. I'm putting you back in the drawer now. _

Tenten had just put the diary back when, lo and behold, Neji came back in fully clothed. NOT. Apparently he slept in just his boxers. Tenten wrenched her eyes away as he climbed onto the other bed and looked at her. "Tenten?" He gave her a strange look.

Tenten fought off her blush and cleared her throat. "Uh, hey. How was your bath?"

"Pretty good," Neji replied awkwardly.

They both sat there in silence before Tenten asked, "Are you tired?"

"Kind of..." Neji laid down and pulled the covers over him, looking at her intently. "You?"

"A little..." she replied, turning off the light and then mimicking his actions. They both laid there with their heads on their pillows, staring at each other. Tenten closed her eyes softly. "I wish Neji was the last thing I saw before I went to sleep EVERY night..." She felt her cheeks heat up again.

Neji watched her silently. In reality, he was not tired at all. But he was content with watching Tenten fall asleep for now. He didn't know what interested him so much about the list that was now crumpled up in his hand, but thinking about it and watching Tenten's breath slowly even out as her whole body relaxed gave him a pretty good idea why he wanted to read it again. _"Maybe Tenten would like me more if I did some of these things..." _Neji thought.

He shook his head. _"What the hell am I thinking? I don't care what Tenten thinks about me! Right?"_ His bed was next to the window, and he used the light from the moon to take another glance at the list. _"I mean...I'm Neji Hyuuga, for crying out loud. I don't need to WOO anyone, or whatever you would call it. I have girls waiting for me in LINES. Tenten's nothing special..." _He looked over at the now-sleeping kunoichi. _"But she does look beautiful when she sleeps...and I guess she's my best kunoichi friend. Actually, she's kind of my best friend, I suppose." _He turned back to the list. _"Stare at you. Hmm...I could do that...that one isn't so bad. What else...help others out. That's convenient; I do that anyway. Call for no reason...call what? I don't really understand that one, but I can call out to her or something. Oh...heh, the phone. Duh. Appreciate you. Ha! I totally appreciate her. Guess that makes me a sweet guy. Bleh. Well, I guess I don't really care for the title, but oh well. I can be 'sweet' if I want to be. Maybe Tenten'll even decide she likes me if I do all this crap. It was in HER room, after all. She must have thought it was interesting if she kept it. Uh, I mean...I don't want Tenten to like me! That's disgusting. Okay, screw this list."_

He took another look at Tenten. _"Pretty..." _his mind said lazily. Neji frowned. _"Damn. I like her." _He sighed. _"Well, it's decided then. Time to do all the crap on the list. Starting tomorrow." _

Neji silently got up from his bed and crept to his bag, placing the list deep inside. He got back in bed and laid down with a sigh. It was going to be a long week.


	3. Training

"What do you want for breakfast, Neji?" Tenten asked, opening the nearest cabinet and peering inside.

"Hn...I'm not really hungry," he replied, crossing his arms and blinking at her.

Tenten looked back at him, her eyebrows raised. "Are you sure? I think I'm going to have some cereal."

"No thanks."

Tenten shrugged and pulled out a box of cereal, pouring it into a bowl and adding milk. She grabbed it and sat down at a nearby table. Neji took a seat across from her. "So what do you want to do today?" Tenten asked without looking at him.

"Whatever you feel like. I don't really care," Neji replied. _"I guess now's as good a time as any..." _

"Okay then. I was thinking maybe we could do our usual training this morning." Neji didn't reply, but Tenten didn't notice and continued talking at her cereal. "Other than that...well, usually I like to cool down afterwards by just lying down somewhere soft. You wouldn't mind that, would you Neji?" There was still no reply. "Neji?" Tenten looked up at him to see his eyes narrowed tightly and focused on her like his life depended on it. "Um...Neji...what are you doing?"

"Staring at you."

Tenten tilted her head to the side. "Why?"

"I can't tell you."

Her eyes narrowed to match his. "Well...could you please stop? It's getting a little strange."

Neji gave her a confused look and immediately tore his eyes away, moving them to focus on the list on his lap. _"What the hell, I thought this was supposed to work! Stupid list...okay, I'll try one more thing and see if that works..." _

Neji scanned the list as Tenten returned to her cereal. After a moment, she saw him look up out of the corner of her eye.

"Tenten, I appreciate you."

Tenten didn't know whether to burst out laughing, blush, or look at him like he was crazy. She finally settled on the third.

Neji looked back at her seriously, looking away after a moment. "Shall we go then?"

"Sure..." Tenten replied slowly, gazing at him suspiciously. "Are you okay, Neji?"

"I'm fine," Neji replied stiffly. They both stood up simultaneously and made their way to the front door. Tenten opened it and walked out with Neji by her side, and after a moment felt his hand grab hers. She looked up at him quickly to see him staring straight ahead with almost no emotion, so she hid her blush and looked away.

"W-well...I guess we should go spar, right?" Tenten asked.

"Of course. Only by doing that may we get stronger." He launched into a lecture about how training was the most important thing on earth.

Tenten was used to things like this from Neji, and settled on staring at their joined hands as they walked to the training grounds. _"Why did he grab my hand like that? Does he like me? Oooh...I hope he does! And staring at me this morning...well, that was really creepy, but whatever...and so was the appreciate thing. But maybe in his own little way, Neji is trying to tell me something..." _

"...and that is how I plan on becoming the strongest shinobi Konoha has ever seen," Neji finished as they walked onto the field. He released her hand and Tenten felt a pang of sadness, but then they separated and stood on opposite ends of the field, facing each other.

Neji moved into his fighting stance. "Shall we begin?"

Tenten nodded, and Neji activated his Byakugan as she spun into the air, her scrolls surrounding her until she was almost completely shielded by them.

In a flash there were hundreds of weapons flying towards Neji, and he quickly leaped into the air to dodge them. Instead of counterattacking like he would normally do, he settled for the defensive side so all he had to do was dodge her attacks. That way he could think.

_"Alright, I've appreciated her, stared at her, and 'my hands found hers', or whatever. What should I do next?" _He tried to mentally recall the list as he dived to his right to avoid a shuriken. _"Aha. That one's perfect. But...what to say...hmm...something romantic...no, that might give me away. Alright, I've got it. You can do this." _

He dodged more weapons and looked over at Tenten to see she was getting frustrated. Obviously his movements must have looked effortless. Neji smirked. Tenten was definitely a talented kunoichi, but she was a ranged fighter. Up close she almost couldn't do a thing. During a normal fight it was understood that they kept the distance between them pretty large so that it would be a fairer fight, but this particular time Neji needed to get close to her.

Tenten saw Neji dash behind a nearby tree, and immediately headed towards it, keeping her distance at the same time. When she got in the right spot to see behind it, there was nothing there. "Huh?" she said aloud, before two strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her back against something large. Tenten looked behind her to see she was pressed tightly against Neji. She looked away with a small gasp, hiding another blush.

"I win," Neji whispered in her ear.

Tenten scowled in no particular direction. "You ALWAYS win."

She could almost see his smirk as he released her. "I know." _"That's another thing down."_

Tenten rolled her eyes and looked at him. "Let's go find some place to relax. I'm done training for today. And you cheated."

"I did not. You never said I couldn't sneak up on you."

"It's an understood rule."

"Then I must have misunderstood it."

Tenten scoffed and led them away. "You act so smart all the time, but sometimes you're a real idiot, Neji."

"You'll regret saying that."

They reached a hill and Tenten sat down without looking at him. "Is that a threat? What could you possibly do to me?"

"This."

Tenten felt a slight pressure on the back of her head and before she knew it her hair was cascading down her back. She spun around to see Neji sitting behind her, smirking. Two hair ties were in his hand.

She gaped at him. "I can't believe you did that! Nobody other than my parents has ever seen my hair like this!"

He blinked and didn't say anything.

Tenten growled at him and reached for the hair ties, but Neji lifted his hand up so she couldn't reach them. "Give them back!"

"Nope."

"Neji!"

"You called me an idiot. Besides, your hair looks better this way."

"Look, I'm sorry I called you a...huh?"

Neji stared at her. "I said...your hair looks better down."

Tenten gave up her quest for the hair ties and stared back at him. "Uh...thanks...I guess."

Neji nodded. "You're welcome. Now...we came here to relax, right?"

Tenten turned back around so that her back was to him and looked up at the sky. "Um...yeah. You're right. Well, I usually just look up at the clouds and stuff. Sorry if you think that's boring." She laid down quietly so her head was almost touching his crossed legs.

"No, it's fine." He laid down sideways so his face was near the back of her head. After one minute of silence, he leaned forward slightly, sniffing her hair. _"Mmm..." _

He must have done something wrong, because Tenten turned around suddenly and looked at him. "Neji...were you just sniffing my hair?"

"No," Neji immediately denied. Tenten raised her eyebrows doubtfully, but turned back around.

Neji let out a sigh of relief. _"That's another down. Now I've got to do one that's more obvious. This is going to stink. I hope she doesn't mind..." _He slowly reached out a hand towards her hair, watching what part of her face he could see, which was only her eyes. As soon as his hand made contact, he saw her eyes widen for a second, and then slowly shut. He smiled to himself, running his hand through her hair quickly. _"It's so soft...and Tenten doesn't seem to mind. Hn. This might actually be fun." _

Neji Hyuuga was the last person anyone would expect to play with a girl's hair, but he had to admit he was enjoying it.

"Mmm...Neji...that feels good..."

He smiled to himself. THAT by itself was a good enough reason to do this. He adjusted himself so that he was on his back and looking at the clouds, but kept one hand rested on Tenten's head.

After a moment, Tenten opened her eyes and frowned. This was NEJI. Neji never did anything like this, especially to her, which meant something was seriously wrong. _"Maybe he ate some bad food or something. Wait, he hasn't had anything to eat or drink today." _Her mind reverted back to her earlier hopes. _"Could he really like someone like ME? I mean, I'm a tomboy, all I ever talk about is weapons and fighting. Neji would probably want some kind of princess that could join his prominent clan, not someone like me. We're just friends is all, at least to him. Oh...of course. He must be thankful that I'm letting him stay for a week, and he's trying to make it up to me by being nice. That explains everything." _She sat up suddenly and turned to look at Neji, who was staring at her intently. "Um...it's around noon I think, and you haven't eaten. Do you wanna go get something?"

Neji stood up and shrugged. "Sure." The blank look was back on his face. Tenten stood up next to him, avoiding his eyes.

"Okay, I know a good place."


	4. It's Raining Men?

The rest of the day flew by. Neji hadn't been able to complete anything more on the list, so he vowed to try and get more of them finished that night. He sat on his bed silently while Tenten took a shower, thinking about what would be best for while they were trying to fall asleep. He studied the list silently, mentally marking off all the items he had already done.

1. Know how to make you smile when you are down.  
3. Stick up for you but still be respectful of your independence.  
4. Give you the remote control during the game.  
8. Be cute when he really wants something.  
9. Offer you plenty of massages.  
10. Dance with you even if he feels like a dork.  
11. Never run out of love.  
12. Be funny, but knows when to be serious.  
13. Realize he's being funny when he needs to be serious.  
14. Be patient when you take forever to get ready.  
15. React so cutely when you hit him and it actually hurts.  
16. Smile alot.  
17. Plan a romantic date full of cheesy things he wouldn't normally  
do just b/c he knows it means alot to you.  
19. Help others out.  
20. Drive 5 hours just to see you for 1.  
21. Always give you a peck on the cheek when you depart from each other's company- even when friends are watching.  
22. Sing even if he can't  
23. Have a creative sense of humor.  
25. Call for no reason.

_"Hmm...not bad. I've done a lot of those things, and it's only been one night and one day." _He focused on number 22. _"Hn. That one would be nice to get over with. But what should I sing? Some song that Tenten will like..." _And then it came to him. ALL girls had to like this song! He smirked. This was going to be easy. His eyes ran up and down the list again. _"Never run out of love? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Or course I don't run out of love! Well, I can cross that out. Stupid list...stupid Tenten...stupid... HOLY BYAKUGAN!" _

Tenten had just walked in with only a towel on. She stared at the dumbfounded look on Neji's face with a smirk. _"Revenge IS sweet. Just because he doesn't like me doesn't mean Neji isn't a guy!" _She grinned at the slack-jawed Hyuuga. "May I get my clothes?" she asked sweetly.

Neji shook his head rapidly to clear his thoughts and then nodded slowly. _"Tenten...is only wearing...a towel." _He watched with wide eyes as she made her way over to her dresser, taking her time to pick out pajamas. _"Just leave the damn room, woman!" _Neji's mind screamed. He grit his teeth and tore his eyes away. _"You are Neji Hyuuga. You do not stare at girls!" _

After another agonizing minute during which Neji struggled not to jump her then and there, Tenten left the room to go change. By the time she came back Neji was lying down on the bed with the covers over him, ready to go to sleep.

"Tired already?" Tenten asked with a grin.

"Not really. Just listening to nature's sounds," Neji said the deepest thing he could come up with.

"Like what? I don't hear anything."

"Oh, you know, the usual: the wind, crickets, towels...OWLS! I mean OWLS!"

Tenten smiled to herself and rolled over so she was facing away from him.

"Are you going to sleep?" Neji asked, quickly recovering from his mistake.

"Yeah."

"Oh. Ok."

There were a few minutes of silence, and as soon as Tenten's eyes were about to close...

"It's raining men! Hallelujah!" a soft and rather high-pitched whisper came from the other bed. Tenten's eyes shot open and she laid there for a second. "It's raining men! Every specimen!" Tenten almost choked on her own spit. "Tall, blonde, dark, and lean, rough and tough and strong and mean!"

Tenten shot up to a sitting position and looked at him incredulously. "Neji, what the hell are you doing?"

Neji paused. "I'm singing."

Tenten's expression didn't change. "Well, would you please shut up? I'm trying to sleep and you're scaring me a little."

Neji blinked at her. "Do you want a massage?"

She gaped at him. "Do I want a WHAT?"

"A massage."

"No, I do not want a MASSAGE! Go to sleep!"

Neji glared at her. "You're supposed to say yes."

Tenten scoffed. "I'm not SUPPOSED to do anything! Ever since you've been here you've been acting really strange, and I'm going to find out why!"

"Well...do you want to dance?"

"NO!"

Neji scowled, but took the hint, and the conversation officially ended.


	5. Tenten's Diary

It was almost five in the morning when Neji woke up.

He sat up slowly and looked around, trying to figure out what had woken him. A soft tapping came from the window, and he jumped, looking over at it. A tree branch was tapping against the window.

Neji frowned. _"So that's what it was. I wonder if it woke Tenten up..." _He turned the other way and saw that Tenten was still sleeping.

With a sigh, he pulled out the list and scanned it again. _"There's absolutely nothing I can do on here while she's sleeping. Other than calling the house for no reason, which would just make her mad..." _Neji scratched his head and leaned back, banging his head on the wall on accident. He let out a low grunt, gripping his head tightly and watching Tenten's face to make sure she hadn't woken up. He let out another sigh, this one in relief. After a moment, he got up out of his bed and sat down lightly on Tenten's, watching her silently. _"She really is beautiful when she sleeps..." _

His eyes traveled over her face and to her hair. _"She even sleeps with her hair in buns!" _He thought, shaking his head. _"That's probably uncomfortable..." _

Neji discovered that his hand was actually shaking slightly as it moved to stroke her cheek. _"Her skin is so smooth..." _he observed. Tenten grumbled something in her sleep and rolled over so her back was to him, and Neji quickly withdrew his hand, his rational side kicking in. _"What the hell am I doing? Watching Tenten sleep...I'm not a stalker!" _Tenten rolled back over so she was facing him and mumbled something.

"...Neji..."

Neji's eyebrows shot up. _"She just said my name. In her sleep. What do I do? Maybe she's dreaming about me! What if this list is working?! How do I know what to do?! How do I know if she likes me?" _

He pulled his hand away quickly as one word popped into his head. _"Diary." _Neji smiled to himself. _"Tenten writes in her diary. She said so herself. It must be hidden somewhere in this room. But where? I can't go rummaging through everything. It'll wake her up. Hmm...Byakugan!" _

His eyes changed and he looked around the room quickly, starting at her desk all the way on the right and moving slowly to the left, finally settling on...her dresser. Neji blushed and stood up, walked over to it staring at the top drawer nervously. _"Oh Kami...if she catches me..." _He looked back over at Tenten, who was still sleeping peacefully. _"Er...here goes..." _

If Tenten could have seen Neji Hyuuga open her drawer and sift through her bras and underwear to get to her diary, she probably wouldn't have known whether to laugh or take his head off. As things were, she was still asleep, and lucky for Neji, she didn't wake up. At last, he found the diary, grabbing it quickly and shutting the drawer without another glance inside...as tempting as it was. He sat on his bed, diary in hand, flipping through it and settling on a random page.

_Dear Diary, _

_I was just wondering...WHY ON EARTH DON'T I HAVE A LAST NAME? It's driving me crazy! What's a thirteen year-old girl have to do to get a last name!?_

Neji suppressed a laugh. This entry must have been from about three years ago. Same old Tenten.

_I guess I won't have one until I get married. Hmm...Tenten Uzumaki. Tenten Akimichi. Ew. I don't like those. Tenten Nara. Ha. Tenten Inuzuka. Tenten Aburame. Tenten...Uchiha? Ewwwwwwwww. Tenten...Lee? Rock? What IS Rock Lee's last name? Some people call him Lee. But nobody calls him Rock. So that would make Lee his first name. But Lee Rock doesn't sound right. So is Rock Lee his first name? But then what's his last name? Gah! Forget it, I'm not marrying Lee anyway. What's left? Tenten...Hyuuga. Hmm. I guess that sounds okay. But I don't know if I would ever marry Neji. I've known him and Lee for about a year now, so I don't know. They ARE my best guy friends...well, I guess I'm a little closer to Neji than Lee since we train so much. Oh well. It's almost time to go to bed so I have to hide this diary before my mom comes in. I'm tired anyway. Bye. _

Neji's eyebrows furrowed. So Tenten had considered what it would be like to marry him? _"She said Tenten Hyuuga sounds okay..." _He shrugged and flipped through a few more pages, stopping on another random one.

_Dear Diary, _

_I'm almost fourteen and I just got my period today..._

Neji closed the diary with a loud SNAP and a blush flooded his entire face. To make matters worse, Tenten's eyes flew open at the loud noise. Boy and girl stared at each other. Slowly, Tenten's eyes traveled to Neji's shoulders, down his arms, and to the closed diary in his hands. They moved back up to Neji's face and saw that he was blushing nervously and his eyes kept moving from her to the door behind her. Her mouth formed a thin line.

"Neji...Hyuuga..." she growled.

Neji flinched. "Yes?" he squeaked out.

Tenten was up in a flash and towering over him. "WHY ARE YOU HOLDING MY DIARY!?"

Neji cowered before the awesome might of an angry Tenten. "I...uh...f-found it while y-you were asleep..."

"YOU WENT THROUGH MY DRAWER TOO!?"

"Y-yes..."

Tenten snatched the diary from him. "I can't believe you! How much did you read!?"

"Only one entry! Sort of..."

"Which one?" she asked with a glare, but Neji detected some anxiety.

"The one about last names."

Tenten sighed in relief, suddenly avoiding his eyes. "Okay. Well, don't look at it again."

"Um..." As a member of the illustrious Hyuuga clan, Neji was not at liberty to lie to a friend. "...actually, there was one more..."

Tenten gave him a suspicious look. "Which one?"

"Er...I only read the first sentence..."

Tenten's eyes narrowed. "Tell me which entry it was, Neji..."

Neji stood up and whispered something in her ear.

"WHAT?!"


	6. Neji Sings Another Song!

After the rather awkward conversation about Tenten's...well, Neji tried to put that in the back of his mind for now. It was day two of seven, and they were now eating breakfast. Once again, Neji declined.

Tenten looked up at him suspiciously as she ate. "Neji, why don't you ever eat breakfast?" Her eyes widened. "Are you anorexic?"

Neji rolled his eyes. "No."

Tenten raised her eyebrows. "Well, I think you shou..."

"I have to go to the bathroom," Neji interupted, promptly fleeing down the hall to the bathroom and slamming the door behind him.

Tenten watched him go. _"Okaaaay...Neji is officially insane."_

Once he was alone, Neji took the list out of his pocket._ "What do I still have left?"_ He marked out the ones he had already done.

1. Know how to make you smile when you are down.  
3. Stick up for you but still be respectful of your independence.  
4. Give you the remote control during the game.  
8. Be cute when he really wants something.  
12. Be funny, but knows when to be serious.  
13. Realize he's being funny when he needs to be serious.  
14. Be patient when you take forever to get ready.  
15. React so cutely when you hit him and it actually hurts.  
16. Smile alot.  
17. Plan a romantic date full of cheesy things he wouldn't normally  
do just b/c he knows it means alot to you.  
19. Help others out.  
20. Drive 5 hours just to see you for 1.  
21. Always give you a peck on the cheek when you depart from each other's company- even when friends are watching.  
23. Have a creative sense of humor.  
25. Call for no reason.

_"Alright..."_ He scanned the list with a sigh. _"...as much as I'm going to hate this, I think today's the day I do the smiling alot one. But how long am I supposed to smile? It doesn't say. Eh...I guess I'm just supposed to smile at every opportunity..." _He sighed again and shoved the list in his pocket. Just as he was walking into the kitchen, the phone rang.

Tenten stood up and walked over to it, picking it up with a, "Hello?"

Neji could barely hear the voice coming out of the other end.

"Really? Are you sure? Ino told you herself? Dammit! Alright, I'll pay you next week. I'm busy right now," Tenten said.

She promptly slammed the phone down and sighed angrily.

"What happened?" Neji tried to ask nonchalantly.

"I lost a bet to Hinata," Tenten grumbled.

"My cousin was gambling?" Neji asked.

Tenten went red. She had forgotten Hinata's words from when they made the bet. _"Do not tell Neji." _

"Um, okay, yes, but it wasn't on anything serious. We just bet on who could make Sai smile first, Ino or Sakura. Like, a real smile. Originally it was Ino and Sakura's bet, but Hinata and I happened to walk by, and I figured Sakura was guaranteed to win. Unfortunately, neither me or Sakura counted on Ino tickling him...or Sai being ticklish." She heaved another angry sigh. "I have to give her all the money I've made from the missions we did last month!"

Neji grit his teeth sadly. He knew first-hand how much money that was. He had done the missions too, after all. He tried his best to be sympathetic. "Er...I'm sorry. I'll pay for lunch today if that helps."

Tenten managed a smile in his direction. "Thanks, Neji." She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him, placing her head on his shoulder. "You're a good friend. Even if you do read my diary while I'm asleep."

Neji blushed at the contact, but couldn't help frowning at the word "friend". "Well..." He swallowed heavily. "...I suppose we should go...train or something."

Tenten pulled away and looked up at him. "Is that the only thing you ever think about?"

"No," Neji said, his blush fading. "What do you think we should do, then?"

"Hmm..." Tenten grinned at him. "I think we should just take a walk through the village, say hi to our friends, relax for a day, you know?"

Neji shrugged. "Sure."

Personally he REALLY wanted to train, but if Tenten wanted to relax, that's what he would do. _"At least this'll make her happy. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, the smiling."_

He immediately frowned at the thought of this, but then took a minute to contort his face into some kind of twisted grin that made him look like he had just farted. Tenten led him out the front door and into the street. "Hey, Neji..." She turned to face him. "...um, are you okay?"

Neji looked down at her with his fart-grin. "Of course!"

Tenten looked at him like he was a three-headed freak, but after a moment turned away without another word. They headed towards the busy part of the village, and just as it began to get crowded, Tenten waved at some people to their left. Neji turned to look and saw Rock Lee and Gai.

"Tenten! Neji!" Rock Lee cried. "Our youthful friends are finally here!"

Gai spun around to look at them. "You are correct! Let's go and greet them!"

Both Neji's and Tenten's eyes widened, and they hurried away to escape their teammates.

"Phew, I thought they were gonna catch us," Tenten said after a minute of running.

"I think we got lost in the crowd," Neji commented, looking back behind them.

"Hey, there's Ino!" Tenten cried suddenly. "I've got a thing or two to talk to her about..." She started off in Ino's direction mumbling something about a lying, cheating...and a not so nice word Neji didn't quite catch.

Before Tenten could reach Ino, she felt a hand pull her back by her arm. She turned around to see Neji shaking his head at her.

"But..." Tenten started. Neji shook his head again, and Tenten turned around to look at Ino again.

Ino met her eyes with an evil grin and a sarcastic wave. Tenten glared at her before Neji led her away in different direction.

After a moment, she looked at the ground sadly. "I can't believe we lost that bet! Sakura should have won; Ino cheated!"

"Sakura doesn't seem to mind that she lost." He pointed at something in front of them. Tenten looked up to see a grinning Naruto and Sakura dragging a handcuffed Sasuke down the street.

"Well of course she doesn't. With Sasuke finally back, she and Naruto haven't stopped smiling. It's annoying," Tenten said.

Neji raised his eyebrows at his normally happy friend. _"That bet really got to her. This is a perfect time for 'Knowing how to make her smile when she is down'. But what should I do?" _He looked over at Tenten, who was still glaring at Team 7, and then over at the three in question. _"Hmm...well, thinking back to last night, she seemed to enjoy my singing...I think. Well, maybe she didn't. But it was a bad song choice. This song fits perfectly. I'll impress her with my beautiful singing voice! That'll make her feel better!" _He grinned to himself and then looked over at Tenten. "Watch this." He left her where she was and walked over to Team 7, who had stopped at Ichiraku Ramen, no doubt at Naruto's insistence. He tapped Sasuke on the shoulder, who turned around and stared at him.

Neji looked at Sasuke's handcuffs for a moment, wondering whether the Hokage had put them there, or Sakura and Naruto had. He shook his head and cleared his throat. "Uchiha, I would like to sing a song to you."

Sasuke's eyebrows went up so high they almost shot off his head. "Excuse me?"

Neji gave him the fart-grin and opened his mouth wide.

"I'mmmmmmmm...an EMO KID! Non-conforming as can be! You'd be non-conforming too if you looked just like me! I have paint on my nails and make-up on my face, I'm almost emo enough to start shaving my legs! 'Cause I feel real deep, when I'm dressing in drag. I call it freedom of expression, most just call me a f..."

A hand clapped over Neji's mouth, stopping him from saying any more. He whirled around to see Tenten staring at him angrily. "Let's go, Neji." She led him away forcefully through the crowd, who were now all staring at them.

Sasuke blinked, and looked, dumbfounded, from Sakura to Naruto. _"How did he know?" _


	7. The Final Chapter

Tenten finally stopped dragging him behind her when they reached a deserted alley. She turned to face him, releasing him at the same time. Neji stared at her blankly. "What did I do?"

Tenten gaped at him, finally shaking her head and sighing angrily. "What did you do? WHAT DID YOU DO?! You sang the freaking Emo Song to Sasuke in public, for one! You sang Raining Men right when I was about to fall asleep last night! AND YOU READ MY DIARY! THAT is what you did, Neji Hyuuga!" Her hands flew to her hips and she glared at him. "What the hell is wrong with you? If you don't tell me right now, I'm taking you to the Hokage, and SHE can diagnose you. Because I sure as hell can't figure it out!"

Neji sighed, and scratched the back of his head. Finally, he mustered up the courage to look her in the eyes. "Nothing's wrong with me."

"Bullshit!" Tenten cursed. Neji jumped in surprise. "Alright...I'm going to figure this out, whether you like it or not. You were fine the day you came to my house, for the most part. We went through all that stuff on my desk, and played Ding Dong Ditch. You took a bath, and then we went to bed. Everything was normal."

Neji watched her as she began to pace back and forth, tapping her chin thoughtfully and keeping the other hand on her hip. What was he supposed to do now? He couldn't consult the list, not with Tenten right there. "I have to go to the bathroom." He turned to leave.

"Oh no you don't. You're staying right here or your out on the streets for the rest of the week!" Neji froze in his tracks and gulped, turning back around to watch Tenten resume her pacing. "The next morning was when things got weird. First you stared at me, then you said you appreciated me. That's way too nice to be normal Neji Hyuuga behavior. Isn't it?" She looked up at him suspiciously. Neji just stared back nervously. "Now, what could your motives be for these actions? Well, when I really think about it, there can only be one logical reason."

Neji gulped as Tenten turned to face him, a smug grin on her face. "Neji, you don't need to act all nice just because I'm letting you stay at my house. It's what friends do, right?"

Neji blinked. Immediately his heart rate returned to normal and he struggled to keep from sighing in relief. "Of course. Very well. I'll go back to normal, then." He cleared his throat and wiped sweat from his forehead when Tenten wasn't looking. As they exited the alley, Tenten grabbed his hand and grinned at him.

"Good. Now let's go get something to eat!"

.

Tenten and Neji sat across from each other at Tenten's favorite eatery, waiting for their food. "_He's doing it again..._" Tenten thought as Neji looked up at her for the billionth time. As soon as their eyes met, he looked back down at his lap. Tenten scratched her head and pretended to be interested in the tablecloth. "_If this wasn't Neji, I would genuinely think that he liked me. But it IS Neji. And he doesn't care about anyone but himself. But then again...he acted like he cared about me today. He even said he was trying to be nice since I'm letting him stay at my house. That shows that he values our friendship. And he HAS been acting kind of weird around me. Staring at me, singing even though he's horrible at it, playing with my hair, holding my hand, smiling so much, trying to cheer me up..._" Tenten's eyes widened and she stared at Neji. "Oh. My. God."

Neji's head shot up and he stared at her. "What?"

Tenten's expression didn't change. "You...you...the list!" She pointed a finger at him accusingly.

Neji felt his heart shoot up into his throat and his heart rate increased tenfold. "Wha...what...I don't know what you're talking about," he said quickly, calming himself down and promptly standing up. "Now you're the one acting weird, Tenten. Babbling about mysterious lists...I can't handle this kind of absurdity. I'll be going now."

Tenten stood up too, a grin spreading across her face. "The list. The list on my desk. From years ago! I'd completely forgot about it!"

Neji turned away from her, making his way towards the door. "No idea what you're talking about, Tenten. I suggest you pay the Hokage a visit. She can fix whatever's wrong with you."

Tenten's grin only got wider as she followed him towards the exit. "You're lying, Neji. You found that list the first night while I was asleep, didn't you?"

"No," Neji shot back without looking back at her, leaving the restaurant and heading down the street. Tenten followed behind, refusing to give up.

"You did, didn't you? And I'm sure you kept it. It's probably in your pocket right now."

"No, it's not, Tenten. You're wrong." Neji shoved past a few people on the street, heading in a random direction and finally turning into another alley. At the same time, he stuck a hand into his pocket, and in a flash the list was in his mouth and he was using chakra to force it down his throat.

"Well, it doesn't matter whether it is or not!" Tenten exclaimed, speeding up her pace to catch up to him. "You took it and read it, and then you did all those things that were on it while I was around..." She reached out and grabbed his arm, spinning him around and shoving him against a wall. "...because you like me," she finished confidently.

Neji swallowed roughly, feeling the paper go down at last. He looked from Tenten's determined face, to his left, and finally to his right, deciding there was no way to escape. There was only one thing left to do...lie through his teeth. "No, that's not true. None of it." He couldn't risk being rejected by his best friend. It was cliche, but their friendship could get ruined.

A bit of uncertainly flashed across Tenten's eyes, and Neji took advantage of the moment. "I...uh...you were right before. When you said I was just grateful that you let me stay with you. That's all."

Tenten released him, folding her arms across her chest and trying to hide her disappointment. "But the list..."

"Alright, I admit it. I found the list. But I didn't do those things out of affection. Just appreciation. You're my best friend, Tenten, but that's all we'll ever be. And I'm okay with that. Aren't you?" His heart was thumping so hard against his chest that it hurt, and he was using every muscle he had to stop himself from grabbing her and kissing her, but he couldn't let Tenten know that. She would never talk to him again if the feelings weren't mutual.

Tenten tapped her foot against the ground nervously, biting her lip and looking up and down the alley. "You're sure that's it?"

Neji nodded determinedly. "Positive." He looked into her eyes as he said this. Wait... something was wrong. Being Tenten's best friend, Neji didn't miss the glint in her eyes when she looked back at him. Tenten was definitely up to something.

"Sooo...you wouldn't mind if I did...this?" Tenten asked. Neji opened his mouth to ask what the heck she was talking about, and was cut off by a pair of soft lips against his own. His eyes slid shut immediately.

_"Wait...what the hell? Who's kissing me? Nobody else was here except Tenten. Oh! This must be her! I can't ruin our friendship by letting her know I like her! Don't kiss back...don't kiss back...don't kiss back...wait. Tenten's FREAKING KISSING ME! I think we're a little bit past the Just Friends stage here! Why on Earth would she kiss me if she didn't like me. Tenten would definitely never kiss a guy unless she liked him. In fact, I don't think Tenten's ever kissed a guy before. Holy shit! This is Tenten's first kiss! I'M Tenten's first kiss! She's...wow, really good. Even though I'm not even doing anything. Wait, why aren't I doing anything? Mmm...oh God. I can't even remember. I don't even know why I'm still thinking. Stop thinking NOW, Neji. Just focus on kissing your amazing best friend." _

Tenten grinned against Neji's lips when she felt him kiss back. _"Ha...I knew it. He tastes like...paper? Okaaaay...Er...now what do I do? I'm sixteen years old and this is my first kiss... I'm pathetic." _Neji pressed harder against her, and something wet slid across her lips. Tenten tilted her head to the side in confusion, and Neji hummed against her lips. It felt funny, and when Tenten opened her mouth to laugh, Neji's tongue slid in, and both teenagers lost any train of thought they had left.

Eventually they broke apart, gasping for air. Tenten took a deep breath, and in spite of everything that had just happened, still managed to give him a mocking grin, their faces inches apart. "Told you you liked me."

Neji frowned at her, crossing his arms. "That's all you have to say? I think you played a small part in this as well."

Tenten's grin widened to the point where Neji was almost annoyed with her. Almost. "That was my first kiss, you know."

Neji's eyebrows furrowed. "I know."

Tenten's smile faded slightly, and the reality of the situation set in. Blushes formed on both Tenten's and Neji's faces, and they looked away from each other awkwardly. "Well...um..." Tenten started. "...does this mean...?"

The question hung in the air. After a moment of silence and avoiding each other's eyes, Neji's cleared his throat. "I...er...hope so."

Tenten's looked at him. "You do?"

Neji took a deep breath and cleared his throat again. "Yeah. I...um...well, you probably know by now. I like you...a lot."

Tenten blushed darker. "I like you too, Neji."

They leaned in to kiss again, when suddenly some frantic footsteps were heard nearby, and both ninja turned to see Tenten's parents turn and flee from the alley.

"OH MY GOD, OUR DAUGHTER'S A LESBIAN!"

**_The End_**


End file.
